CHARLES MOLELE|
OPPOSITION parties on Sunday slammed President Cyril Ramaphosa for his maladroit handling of the COVID-19 crisis, including his decision to move the country to Level 4 lockdown, saying the only answer to this pandemic and health crisis was the acceleration of the vaccine rollout plan in order to save lives and livelihoods.
Angry and concerned South Africans also took to social media on Sunday night to lament the government’s slow pace of the vaccine rollout in South Africa, saying left unchecked the virus could soon mutate into new strains that existing vaccines do not protect.
Many cited the recent case of India, one of the world’s biggest suppliers of vaccines, which faced a COVID-19 vaccine crunch recently partly due to an explosion of cases linked to new variants.
According to acting Health Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, the Delta variant is driving Gauteng’s third wave of infections.
Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen said government has indeed dropped the ball on the pandemic by failing to prepare a proper health care response to the so-called Third Wave of the coronavirus.
“Ramaphosa wants the health department to vaccinate 300 000 per day, yet only 2 000 people were vaccinated on Sunday [June 27 2021],” Steenhuisen claimed.
“The government has dropped the ball on the pandemic. Giving many jabs as possible is the only proper response to this pandemic and health crisis. This is the only thing that can change the game.”
Steenhuisen said as from Sunday, ‘every Covid-19 death and every job lost to the draconian restrictions announced tonight are on President Ramaphosa now.”
“He is now forcing citizens to pay the price for his administration’s catastrophic vaccine failures, or “missteps” as he calls them. There must be accountability,” he said.
Steenhuisen said the DA has called for a comprehensive parliamentary inquiry into government’s handling of the vaccine programme.
“There must be accountability for this failure. To much media fanfare, Ramaphosa personally took delivery of one million AstraZeneca vaccines in February. These alone could have protected 500 000 high-risk individuals from severe disease or death, saving lives and taking pressure off our healthcare system during this inevitable third wave. The DA pleaded with him to administer them as per scientific and WHO advice, but instead he sold them,” said Steenhuisen.
“South Africans are being battered by the third wave with less than 1% of the population fully vaccinated. Not one single Covax vaccine has been administered. (To think Ramaphosa was planning to rely solely on Covax vaccines.) Today, only 2 289 vaccines were administered. Compare that with Chile, which months ago reached rates of 300 000 jabs a day.”
The FF Plus said government should ramp up its mass screening in communities and immediately open vaccination systems to everyone, adding that at this rate, it will take South Africa more than 30 years to vaccinate the whole population.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) spokesperson Vuyani Pambo said in a statement the party rejected the announcement by Ramaphosa to move the country to Level 4 lockdown.
He said the party called on the people of South Africa to defy Ramaphosa until there was a clear vaccination plan for the whole country.
“Experience has this far demonstrated that lockdowns and restrictions are not a measure to contain corona virus, and that the only massive vaccination will contain the pandemic. The measures by Ramaphosa are not an assurance that there will not be 4th and 5th wave of the pandemic. Without a clear vaccination plan that sources vaccines from all parts of the world including Russia, China and Cuba, Ramaphosa’s measures are not worth respecting,” said Pambo.
He said the EFF would continue to demand all scientifically tested and proven vaccines from Russia, China and Cuba.
“We cannot be force-fed American vaccines, while there are options. The failure to rollout Sputnik V and coronavirus/Sinovac and any other vaccine proved to have sufficient efficacy regardless of where it is manufactured means Ramaphosa is responsible for all the recorded deaths we see today,” said Pambo.
ACDP leader Reverend Kenneth Meshoe said Ramaphosa’s decision to move the country to Level 4 lockdown was harsh, adding that it will cost massive unemployment in South Africa.
He said over three million South Africans have lost their jobs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns.
“There are many people employed in South Africa today and many of them are going to lose their jobs as a result of the president’s decision to move the country to Level 4 lockdown. This is a major concern to us. More people are going to lose jobs. Livelihoods will be lost. People will go into poverty,” said Meshoe.
South Africa is the continent’s worst-affected nation in terms of coronavirus cases and deaths, accounting for roughly a third of confirmed infections and more than 40 percent of deaths.
As of 25 June, 18,726 new cases of Covid-19 were reported in the country, the bulk of which – 11,777 cases – were in Gauteng. The country recorded 215 new deaths, with active cases sitting at 145,904.
The number of COVID-19 cases so far reported is 1 913 861.
There are currently 152 013 active cases. There are 157 reported deaths which brings the total to 59 778 deaths.
Ramaphosa said the second phase of the vaccine roll out has gone well with the drive for the registration and vaccination of the over 60 year old group continuing to yield good results.
“Whilst we have yet to reach all of the estimated 5 million citizens in this group, each province has now embarked on social mobilisation drives to assist our elderly to register and receive their vaccination,” said Ramaphosa.
He said to date 3.8 million people have been registered on the electronic vaccination database.
“The national vaccination programme will continue along three defined streams. The first stream is the general population according to age groups. The next cohort of 50 to 59 year olds can begin registration on the 1stof July and vaccination of this group will begin on the 15thof July. The second stream has already commenced with people working in the basic education sector, with 184,000 vaccinations recorded to date. The third stream is focusing on police and other security personnel. We will start to vaccinate this group on the 5thof July.”
He added: “The fourth stream is through workplace programmes in key economic sectors such as mining, manufacturing and the taxi industry. I want to call on all who are eligible to register for a vaccine whether it is online, via SMS, by phone, or in person. We will continue to work with our social partners and communities to reach as many people as possible as quickly as we can.”
Ramaphosa also announced alert level four measures which will be in place for the next fourteen days:
- All gatherings — indoors and outdoors — are prohibited.
- A curfew will be in place from 9pm to 4am.
- Funerals are permitted with only 50 people in attendance.
- The sale of alcohol is prohibited.
- Leisure travel in and out of Gauteng is prohibited.
- Visits to old-age homes will be restricted.
- Restaurants will be only permitted to sell takeaways.
- The closure of schools for the winter holidays will be brought forward and schools will start closing this coming Wednesday and all schools will be expected to close by the end of the week on Friday.
- Contact lessons at tertiary institutions will end on Wednesday.
- Inside Politics
